


Subvert The Expectations

by NeoSoul



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Circus, Circus School, Depression, F/F, F/M, Food Issues, Happy Ending, Injury, M/M, Mental Health Issues, POV Multiple, Recovery, contemporary circus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29146029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoSoul/pseuds/NeoSoul
Summary: One year of circus school - following Ben, a 1st year, Leia, a 2nd year, and Anakin, a 3rd year - as they go through their year of school.  Each year has its' own struggles, and so does each person.  Ben has to find his place in the school, and with his class- and fight for his work to be seen.  Leia has to overcome numerous mental blocks, and find her voice in a discipline she isn't yet comfortable with - Anakin has to fight with some old demons, and deal with the concept of graduating, and finding his own way into the world.Follow each class, and their story from Orientation week to their final show - and how much a soul - pushed to its' limits - can change in a year.
Relationships: Barriss Offee/Ahsoka Tano, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Poe Dameron/Finn
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Random idea I had in my contemporary class - to help process my own graduation tbh.

The first time that Ben walked into the building was during auditions. He swore it looked different than it was now, as he stared the front door down. He was nervous, but so were his new classmates. No one knew what to expect from the school - and everyone had their own expectations going in.  
Ben had trained intensely the summer before, so the first weeks wouldn’t be a shock to his body. He had heard some horror stories from graduated students of the first semester, and was oddly terrified of the conditioning.   
He inhaled and walked through the doors, his backpack on his back, and his straps swung over his shoulder. The building still felt new to him, huge. It was warm in the early September heat - and Ben could tell that the first few weeks of classes would feel like absolute hell in the heat.  
But that would pass by the end of September.  
He followed the sound of numerous voices, and walked toward the downstairs gym; where he assumed acrobatics, juggling, and most of the ground disciplines were trained.   
Walking into the space - Ben was met with a couple of stares - he froze in the doorway - scouring the room for anyone he remembered from auditions, and noticed the first-years in their own corner - while the 2nd and 3rd years were either already training, warming up, or sitting and talking closely.  
He noticed someone waving at him, so he walked over eagerly, and sat beside a red-headed boy, who was around his height, but much smaller in size.   
“Ben, right?” A tall, blonde woman asked. Ben nodded.  
“Yeah, uh, and I remember you from auditions, but not your name.” Ben said.  
“Uh, just call me Phasma; it’s what I go by.” She said, and smiled.  
Ben watched as the last few walked into the door - both of them being returning students, and they were followed by one of the coaches he recognized from auditions.  
“Let’s make a circle, guys.” The coach said, and everyone immediately shot up, and with a bit of laughter from the upper classes; they formed a bit of a wonky circle.  
“Hi, I’m Mace Windu, and I’m the head of the acrobatics here. I’ll be running the warm-up today,” He explained, and then looked towards the first student. “First let’s introduce ourselves - tell us your name, year, and discipline.” Windu said.  
The first student started.  
“Leia, 2nd year, dance acrobatics.” Leia said, her all-white workout gear was glowing in the bright sunlight.  
“Rex, 3rd year, sir. Partner acrobatics base.” Rex said, his buzzed blonde hair was clearly, very recently done.  
“Cody, 3rd year, I fly on Rex.” Cody said, his eyes remained on the floor, but Rex was chucking after he spoke.  
“I’m Han, 2nd year, and I juggle.” Han said. He had an odd short sleeved hoodie pulled over his body - even in the heat.  
“I’m Finn, 1st year, and I do partner acro.” Finn said - he was wearing a full jacket for some reason.  
“I’m Poe, 1st year, and I base Finn.” Poe said, as he eyed his partner. They were so obviously in love.  
“Hi, I’m Ahsoka, 3rd year, I do dance trapeze and some straps.” Ahsoka said; she was wearing only a crop top and some shorts - which were actually weather-appropriate.  
“Jyn, I’m a handstand artist. Uh, 2nd year.” Jyn said - a scarf hiding her neck.  
“I’m Luke, 2nd year, I do unicycle.” Luke said, his all-black ensemble looked like he had definitely trained in it the day before.  
“I’m Obi-Wan, 3rd year, and I juggle rings and other such objects.” Obi-Wan smirked. He was also ginger, and with his hair came a beard - juggler was the only way to describe him.  
“I’m Rey, 1st year, I do chinese pole.” Rey said, her accent was obvious.   
“Cassian, 2nd year, and I do swinging trapeze.” Cassian said. His mop of hair was just long enough to fall into his eyes.  
“I’m Rose, 1st year, I do contortion.” Rose said, and Ben could tell from the moment she spoke - there was something in the way she stood.  
“Anakin, 3rd year, I do rope and cyr wheel.” Anakin said. He stood in a simple black tank top, and some sweatpants - a usual ensemble for a day at circus school.  
The circle was getting close to Ben, and he was a bit terrified to speak.  
What if he did something wrong?  
“Bariss, 3rd year, I do object manipulation.” Bariss said, as she was holding a juggling ring in her hand.  
“Ezra, 3rd year, straps.” Ezra said; his voice quite bold.  
“Lando, 2nd year, I do trampoline wall.” Lando said. Ben could tell just by Lando’s calves.  
“Boba, 2nd year, clowning.” Boba said - he looked down to shuffle a pencil under his feet.  
“I uh, I’m Armitage, but you can call me Hux, 1st year, wire walking.” Hux said, his red hair was slicked back - as he was quite put-together.  
“Ventress, 3rd year, I’m a wire walker.” Ventress said, she had a beanie over her assumedly shaved head.  
“I’m Maul, 3rd year, I do acrobatics.” Maul said, rolling his ankles out - as if he was preparing to tumble immediately after this.  
Ben inhaled.  
“I’m Ben, I’m a 1st year, I do straps.” Ben said. He looked back to the ground.  
Introductions finished, and Windu looked towards the circle of eager students.  
“We’ll start with some running, so you’ll go around the chair, and then around the mat in the room, twice.” Windu explained.  
Ben was confused. It didn’t make a lot of sense, why he couldn’t just run in a circle.  
But then again nothing really made sense about the school.  
He was eager to train.  
After they ran, Windu had them in some semblance of lines. He said nothing, and just started some motions.   
Ben tried to follow along, but he got lost after arm circles.  
He watched Ahsoka go through the warm-up effortlessly - while his arms burned from just the first few minutes.  
This was hard, and the year ahead felt so daunting.  
They were given a two-hour training block after the warm-up, while they were pulled in one-by-one for some form of health meeting, which was probably part of the health forms they had filled out a week ago.  
Ben was supposed to go in at 10:20 am.  
“You’re an aerialist right? I can show you the upstairs, you uh, just can’t rig your straps on your own, not yet.” Ahsoka said, as she picked up her trapeze.  
“Oh uh, sure.” Ben said. He followed her up the stairs, and into the large upstairs space. It had many mats to either side of the space - some foam floor upon the wood, and aerial apparati hung.   
Silks in the back.   
Ropes in the middle.  
Trapezes to the front, and on the right.  
Hammocks in the front on the left.  
Duo trapeze and a spotting belt in the back right.  
Trampoline in the far back.  
Ben was overwhelmed at the absolute marvel that was in front of him. He had come from a small, southern town and had access to very few apparati.   
“Uh, where can I rig?” Ben asked.  
“In the middle is fine, here, go stand by the foam floor, and clip the straps to the biner.” Ahsoka explained, and Ben quickly ran to the middle. He watched one of the rigging points fall in front of him, and he clipped his straps into the carabiner.  
The space was much larger than he was used to, and he felt as if he was still a foreign body in such space. A class was warming up a couple feet beside him - on a separate foam floor setup.  
He placed his hands into the straps - wrapping once to lock, and he pulled his body towards him. His shoulders engaged - locking in, so he wouldn’t lose control and injure himself.   
He let his weight dip down a couple inches, and then pulled himself back up - he did that quite a few times, until his shoulders felt warm- which then he moved to wrapping twice, doing some muscle ups, and even to inlocks.   
He had oddly high hopes for the year - expecting to learn much more than he could ever do at his old gym.  
He was jamming for a bit - spinning, and he pulled into a couple of meathooks, reverse meathooks, and then did some roll-ups.   
Straps - when it came down to it - were really just the same few skills done in different ways.  
That was the challenge.  
Ben came down; regaining his balance from the spinning - and noticed Finn blankly staring in his direction - while standing on Poe’s back - while he lay face-down on the floor. Ben waved, awkwardly.  
“Hey, that was some sick spinning.” Finn said, and he moved a couple inches lower on Poe’s back - Poe let out a grunting laugh, as a nicely sized pop was heard.  
“Oh uh, thanks - Is uh, is Poe ok?” Ben asked. Poe looked up from his forearm.  
“I’m great. We do this like three times a day while training.” Poe explained.  
“Right, valid.” Ben said, and shook his wrist free from the strap - noticing the red bruising that was around his wrist - which wasn’t uncommon in straps - it’s why he usually wore long sleeves while training - even in the summer heat.  
“Hey, Ben, you’re up.” Rey called from the large doors at the front of the space. Ben pulled his headphones out and walked over.  
“Thanks.” He said, and walked by Rey, who was in full chinese pole wear - jeans, a hoodie - anything to cover all bits of skin. A metal pole that was covered in rubber - it didn’t feel good, not on bare skin.  
Ben walked through the hall, and into the meeting room - he timidly opened the door.  
“Ben?” Mace asked. He sat alongside Qui-Gon, the juggling coach, and Kit, the aerials coach. It was honestly just awkward.  
“Yeah, hey.” Ben said, as he sat on the opposite side of the folding table.  
“We’re just doing a quick check-in; so we can be made aware of anything that could interfere with your training.” Mace explained. Ben nodded; his eyes looking toward the door.  
“Ok, sure.” Ben said.  
“So, your sheet says you’ve sprained both ankles twice - how bad were the sprains?” Mace asked.  
“I was on crutches for two days; for both of them. It wasn’t horrible though, and like five years ago.” Ben explained.  
“Of course, how’s your sleep? Do you have a regular schedule?” Kit asked.   
“Uh yeah, I go to bed a little late, but it’s only out of habit. I sleep through the night though, if you were asking about that.” Ben explained.  
“Great, and your nutrition habits?” Qui-Gon asked.  
“Oh uh, I mean, it’s uh normal. I eat like everything.” Ben said, awkwardly.  
“Are you vegetarian or vegan?” Kit asked.  
“No.” Ben said - cutting into the awkward silence of the room.  
“Alright, if nothing else is dire - we’ll let you go.” Qui-Gon said. Mace cleared his throat.  
“So, you’ll be getting a nutrition seminar later today - but I need to warn you, like everyone else. You will be hungry, and that’s normal. You’re working out for longer hours than ever before. Take care of yourself - if you find yourself losing weight, eat more. If you’re tired, sleep more and train less. Injury prevention is your most important job.” Mace said, sternly. Ben nodded awkwardly, and walked out.  
Anakin was by the door, joking with Ahsoka, who had her dance trapeze swung around her like a scarf - most likely on her way to rig it.  
“You done?” Anakin asked. Ben nodded, and walked along the hall, awkwardly.  
He wasn’t really sure what to expect, but he felt completely prepared for anything that was going to be thrown at him.  
Even if it was only orientation week, at 10:30 in the morning, and he was already exhausted.


	2. Same Space ; New Self

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia is coming back for her 2nd year.

The first year of circus school wasn’t her best. Leia had been injured so many more times than she had ever fathomed - leaving her with a summer of trying to break mental blocks and habits.  
She was excited, to say the least - to be back for her second year, desperately wanting to make it so much better than her first.   
There was something about coming back - the last day of summer, as she walked to the grocery store to get all the food she’d need for a whole week - and the last time her grocery bill would be under 40$ for a few months.  
Leia lived close to the school, and usually walked with Jyn - who was one of her three roommates.  
“Is this the first time you’re back in the space since we left after the show? In like May?” Jyn asked. Leia nodded - her backpack on her back, and the juggling props that she owned strapped on the back.  
“Uh yeah, it’s kind of a weird feeling. I’m sort of desperate to go back; training at home doesn’t beat any of this.” Leia said - her steps beginning to increase, as she got closer to the steps.  
“Oh, absolutely. I’m so excited to just see everyone again, and we’ve got a partner acrobatics class with the 3rd years - which I’m excited for.” Jyn said, as they started up the stone steps - Leia’s ankle nagged her only in the slightest.  
“Right, uh, I’m not the biggest fan of it, but I’m excited to learn for sure.” Leia said, as she pushed the heavy doors - a familiar creak was heard when the doors swung open. The humid building was such a breath of fresh air. Leia saw the updated board of coaches, and then the old headshots from their first day of school the year prior - she hadn’t realized how much she had changed.  
Leia dropped her backpack off in the student lounge, and walked down the stairs to meet everyone else - and see her old classmates. Her heart raced with excitement. She basically flew down the stairs - her agility coming in handy.   
She spotted her class right away - and ran over to them.  
“Hey, when’d you get back?” Luke asked, surprised.  
“Like yesterday, uh, actually.” Leia said, as she sat beside Cassian, who was rolling his calves out with a massage ball - and looked somewhat distressed while doing so. It was quite common for them - but calves were not as bad as IT bands.  
“Well, it’s been kind of lonely without you; how’s the ankle?” Luke asked.  
“Fine now, it hurts sometimes, but I’m back to doing handsprings and aerials, so that’s exciting.” Leia explained - she looked to Han, who was trying to balance a single juggling club on his nose - which wasn’t easy when sitting.   
“So, uh, anyone else have a ridiculous schedule? Like I literally workout from 8 am to 3 pm on Mondays.” Jyn asked.  
“Not on Mondays. My Wednesdays are rough though.” Lando said - his very familiar sleeveless hoodie was already in use - even in the late summer heat.  
“I’m excited, you know. We finally get to do some stuff with the 3rd years, it was weird last year, being stuck with only your class.” Luke exclaimed.   
Luke was the class emotional support, really. Leia sometimes felt bad for him - because he dealt with everyone else’s emotional needs - and she always had to remind him that he too had emotional needs.  
Mace walked in, and he waved to Jyn - who awkwardly waved back.   
The familiar circle was made, and folks went around - introducing themselves, disciplines, and years. Leia excitedly announced her newly declared dance acrobatics major.  
She then went to check her own time for the health check-in - which was at 10:30.  
“You gonna train? Or can I steal the foam floor?” Jyn asked.  
“Uh, I was going to, but we can do some tumbling together - if you want to bring out the mini-tramp.” Leia said.  
“I uh, I’m gonna join if you’re bringing out the mini-tramp.” Lando said - from behind.  
“Of course.” Jyn said, and she pulled the mini-trampoline in front of a large crash pad - and set herself on the opposite side of the foam floor.  
She ran first, hit the trampoline, and rebounded up in a straight jump - landing solidly on the mat. Leia followed, and then Lando - warming up their knees, and their landings.  
“You gonna flip it yet?” Lando asked.  
“Oh no, I need a little more warm-up, what? Were you planning to?” Leia asked.  
“Yeah. I was.” Lando explained.   
Leia watched in her peripheral as Luke fell off of his unicycle, and rolled back. He stood up unphased.  
“You uh good?” She asked. Luke just gave her a thumbs up, and mounted his unicycle again.  
Lando had landed his first front tuck of the year - which gave way to Jyn flipping as well, and then Leia following - and rolling out of her unstable landing.  
Leia finished with the mini-tramp about an hour in - leaving Jyn and Lando to chuck skills at the wall - falling left and right.  
Leia walked towards some of the familiar third years - and sat beside them. Obi-Wan was balancing one of his rings on his nose - trying to flip it with no success. Ventress, Barriss, and Ahsoka were all working muscle knots out of Padme’s back - which was a normal occurrence during the day.   
The bodies of circus artists - they needed constant care, and many artists ignored it.  
“Hey, how’s your ankle? Heard you took a tumble.” Barriss asked, as she eased her grip on Padme’s scapula.  
“Oh, uh, it’s fine now. It was just a bad sprain.” Leia explained, and she sat beside them.  
“Are you sure? That was one gnarly looking bruise, the one you sent us.” Obi-Wan asked, as he caught yet another failed balance attempt.  
“X-ray showed nothing, so yeah. I just keep it in a brace.” Leia explained.  
“Of course, just uh, remember to take care when it gets cold.” Obi-Wan heeded.   
Ahsoka had left the room - assumedly for her meeting. Barriss had taken it upon herself to join Obi-Wan in the balancing of a single juggling ring on the nose - and then trying to rotate said ring.  
Leia wandered upstairs - when it was her time to go meet with her coaches. She was met with quite the flustered Ben; who had assumedly just had his first encounter with the coaches - and his first awkward meeting of many.  
Leia walked in.  
“Hey. How’s your summer been?” Mace asked. Leia shrugged.  
“It wasn’t crazy. I really just trained and coached some summer camps.” She said.  
“So, has anything changed from last year, new injuries or other things we need to know.” Qui-Gon asked. Leia nodded.  
“I had a bad sprain on my right ankle, but it’s been healed for a month now. I don’t think it’ll be a problem until maybe December.” Leia explained.  
“How’d it happen?” Kit asked.  
“Oh, I was doing some back full twists, and landed kinda bad. It’s kind of embarrassing to be honest.” Leia said.  
“I’m glad you’re back twisting - that was kind of an issue last year, wasn’t it? Hey, is your nutrition ok? Your sleep?” Kit asked.  
“Oh yeah, I’ve been cooking much more, especially after I moved in with Jyn.” Leia explained.  
“Wonderful. I think that’s all we need for today, unless you have questions.” Mace said, and sent Leia back out. She walked to the large upstairs training space - mainly called the loft - as most aerial training is located there.  
She watched as Hux was walking across the high-wire - turning sharply every couple steps - using a large fan to balance himself.  
Leia truly had missed the air - and after the crushing intensity of the last year - she was so excited to get back into it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get rly nostalgic when I write these, bc it's like so familiar.


	3. Third Time?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anakin's first day of his third year - and his graduation crisis.

Anakin was the first to walk into the same creaky doors of the school. He had his backpack on his back, and his deconstructed cyr wheel on his right shoulder - it was starting to dig into the bones on his shoulder, as he had walked about a half-mile with the 35 pound cyr wheel on his collarbone.   
He had finally made it to his third year. This was the year in which he had to figure himself out, and that terrified him.  
It had terrified him so much that he had relapsed over the past summer. He spent his summer stressing more about food and about his own body than he had spent on anything else. Every moment that he had spent not coaching or training was spent doing anything he could to self-soothe - which was most likely going to be something destructive.  
Anakin didn’t have really consider it to be a specific disorder, but it was just a mixture of all of them, and they weren’t as miserable as they had been when he was 18. They existed alongside himself - just a way to cope - even if he was somewhat miserable all of the time.  
Walking into the building after a summer was always a breath of air. It was the first week of September, and the air was still hot. It would remain quite hot for at least two more weeks of training - which wasn’t always fun.  
Anakin was met with the halls, and he knew his way through them. He walked to the downstairs gym - where it seemed everyone else was, and he was met with some excitement, as he walked in. Anakin walked towards the other third years, waving, as he placed his deconstructed wheel beside him.  
“Dude, it’s been so long. How’ve you been?” Obi-Wan asked, as they threw their arms around each other.  
“Oh yeah, uh, I’ve been a little all over you know - a bit of a dread and a lot of confusion.” Anakin said, as he sat next to Rex, who was balancing a perched Cody on his shoulders.  
“You’re also terrified of graduating? I’m so not ready.” Cody asked. Anakin nodded, as he pulled his phone out.  
“Oh yeah, I’ve had some awful crises after moving back.” Anakin said.  
“I think we all collectively feel that - no one’s really prepared us, but we still have nine months until we have to think about it - so you’ll be fine.” Ventress tried reassuring him. Anakin nodded.  
“No, I know. I just can’t get it out of my head. I think it’ll be easier once we’re back in it.” Anakin said, shoving his phone into Obi-Wan’s face to show some fail video from his Instagram feed, and both of them chuckled.  
“From what I’ve been seeing on your socials - you’ll be fine.” Ahsoka reassured him.  
“Yeah. totally, I think that’s part of this week, overthinking the whole thing.” Anakin said, hoping to reassure himself as well.  
Mace Windu had introduced himself to the school - they had made a circle, and everyone started with introductions. Then Mace started one of his usual warm-ups, which were intense, and really not something that Anakin liked - it felt useless at this point. He was really just ready to work for himself at this point.  
“So, we’re still running around chairs huh? I never got warm with it - like seriously. It’s fine now, but it needs to change by winter.” Obi-Wan whispered to Anakin as he walked to the front of the line.   
The half-hour warmup finished quickly - Anakin went to build his wheel - which consisted of five steel pieces - and they were held together with screws.   
“You’ve got two hours of training time, and we’ll be meeting with you all for health check-ins - check the sheet for your time.” Mace said, as he walked back out of the gym, leaving everyone to train.  
“So you’re gonna wheel?” Luke asked, as he was dragging his unicycle to Anakin.  
“Oh yeah, uh, we can split the space?” Anakin offered.  
“I’ll take the half by the stage.” Luke said.  
“Sure.” Anakin said, and finished shoving the joints into one another, and then started screwing them together.  
“Mind if I play music?” Han called out, plugging his phone into the speaker.  
“Go ahead.” Obi-Wan called, as he pulled his rings out in a corner by the open door. Music had started to blast, and everyone who knew what they were doing started to work. Anakin started with simple movements, so he could get used to the wood floor once more.  
The gym was for ground acts, and the loft was for aerial work - so many had already gone upstairs - and the trampoline was already being heavily used - the sound audible through the floors.  
Anakin was one of the last for the health meetings, and he made sure that he would take his training time to burn off some of the morning calories.  
He was aware that this wasn’t good - he was working out at least three hours a day and he had dance classes alongside that - not to mention his two six-hour training days. He found relief in the concept of being able to eat more, and still lose weight - even when he knew he was most likely not going to lose weight.  
His body would get hungry real fast - which pulled him back to the more familiar habits of bulimia.  
He was determined to change it this year - he wanted to restrict, at least to drop a few pounds, so he could feel better about himself in the dance studio mirror.  
The work itself had Anakin exhausted after the first hour, but that wasn’t really anything to stop him. Anakin jumped up and down a few times to wake himself up again.  
“You ok?” Bariss asked, as she walked towards him to pick up one of the juggling balls she had dropped.  
“Yeah, I’m just a little tired - I need to get used to the training again.” Anakin said, as he picked his wheel up again.  
“I understand. It’s hard until the first month is over, really.” Bariss said. She started juggling the five balls as she walked back towards the stage.  
Anakin pulled for his fifth coin spin of the morning - hoping to break an old endurance record.  
“Hey, uh, Anakin? You’ve got like ten minutes to get to your meeting.” Ahsoka said, as he got off of his wheel. He quickly dropped it to the floor - letting it make a somewhat loud noise.  
“Crap, yeah. You coming?” Anakin asked.  
“Obviously. I’m like right after you.” Ahsoka said, as they sprinted out the gym door - Anakin racing Ahsoka up the stairs - which he had won, because Ahsoka was trying to keep her dance trapeze from hitting her shins.  
Anakin stood by the door - his shoulders covered in sweat. He watched as Ben, whom he recognized as the straps artist from auditions - he was one of the auditionees that Anakin was rooting for.  
Anakin walked into the room, and was met with Mace, Qui-Gon, and Kit. They smiled at him.  
“Hey, how’s your summer been?” Kit asked. Anakin’s heart was racing, as he forced a smile.  
“It’s been a lot. I coached at my old gym, and did some performing around my state, but really nothing crazy.” Anakin explained, clasping his palms under the table.  
“Great, and uh, how’s your body? New injuries?” Mace asked. Anakin shook his head.  
“Other than the recurring shoulder thing - nothing.” Anakin reassured them, hoping to just speak of nothing else.  
“And sleep? You still have a normal sleep schedule?” Qui-Gon asked.  
“Uh, not yet. I was going to bed at like four in the morning and waking up at noon, but it’s getting better, I actually managed midnight the other day.” Anakin explained.  
“Great, yeah, you know what happens without sleep, you’ve done this.” Mace joked.   
“And your nutrition? Anything we need to know? Still vegetarian?” Kit asked. Anakin clenched his fists much more intensely. His legs moving at miles a minute.  
“Still vegetarian. Uh, nothing’s really changed.” Anakin lied.   
“Good. How’s the head?” Mace asked.  
“Oh uh, still fine. Still in the past.” Anakin lied - knowing he had put the past bulimia on his health form - mainly because he felt guilty for lying about it.  
“Good. I hope you’ll attend the nutrition meeting later; it might help you, and you’re free to go, unless there’s something else.” Qui-Gon said, and Anakin got up quickly - darting out of the room before anything else could be said.  
He looked to Ahsoka.  
“Rough meeting?” She asked.  
“Uh yeah. I’ll be downstairs.” Anakin said, as he sprinted back to the gym to finish his training session.  
Obi-Wan noticed his changed demeanor.   
“Are you alright? Did your meeting go wrong?” Obi-Wan asked, as he walked to Anakin.  
“Oh, uh. It was just awkward. We don’t have to go to the nutrition meeting later - do we?” Anakin asked.  
“I think we do; was it that bad?” Obi-Wan asked, placing a hand on Anakin’s back.  
“It was just awkward uh.” Anakin said.  
“I mean, if you need to chat - I’m here to listen.” Obi-Wan offered.  
“I’ll be fine for now, but uh, probably in a couple weeks, when everyone begins to fall apart.” Anakin joked, as he went to get back on his wheel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is me rn - it's like super throwing myself into the unknown

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of this is based on my own experiences, and those around me - uh, a lot of the terms are probably unfamiliar.  
> This isn't traditional circus - it's more contemporary.  
> Uh, enjoy if you want to read !  
> There will be three POVS - one from each main character of their year.


End file.
